376 



TREES AND SHRUBS 



Name. 



Hamaraelis (Witca 

 or Wych Hazel) 

 'H. arborea 



Country or 



Origin and 



Natural Order. 



Colour 



AND 



Season. 



Hamamelideas Orange- 

 yellow ; 

 China Winter 



H. japonica 

 H. mollis 



H. virginica 



*Hibiscus syriacus 

 (Tree Mallow, Syn 

 Althsea frutex) 



Japan 

 Japan 



Eastern North 

 America 



China ; 

 Malvacese 



Pale 

 yellow ; 

 Winter 

 Bright 

 yellow 



Pale 

 yellow ; 

 Autumn 



White ; 



blotched 



red 



General Remarks. 



A charming tree when in flower. 

 It blooms early in the year, 

 the precise time depending 

 upon the weather. When 

 the leafless shoots are 

 studded with the golden- 

 yellow, narrow petalled 

 flowers, with their crimson 

 calyces, it is very pretty. It 

 is also worth using with some 

 shrub like Gaultheria pro- 

 cumbens as a groundwork. 

 It enjoys an open situation, 

 and is not very particular 

 about soil. 



An interesting shrub, of which 

 *2uccariniana is a well- 

 known variety. 



This is a rare Witch-Hazel, 

 with very broad and large 

 leaves, and wavy brightly 

 coloured flowers. 



For many years this species 

 was the only Witch-Hazel in 

 cultivation. Being spread 

 over the eastern side of 

 North America from 

 Canada to the Southern 

 United States, it naturally 

 attracted the notice of the 

 earlier colonists, and it was, 

 in fact, introduced to Britain 

 as long ago as 1736. Diuring 

 the last twenty or thirty years, 

 however, new species have 

 been discovered and brought 

 home from China and Japan. 

 They surpass this old Ameri- 

 can species in ga,rden value, 

 and are, indeed, amongst the 

 most interesting and attrac- 

 tive of the shrubs that flower 

 in the early part of the year. 

 H. virginica, on the other 

 hand, is at its best in autumn. 

 It has the narrow, twisted, 

 bright yellow petals which, 

 with but little variation, are 

 characteristic of all Hama- 

 raelis flowers. The flowers 

 cover the younger branches 

 in close, dense clusters. It 

 is a sturdy shrub, almost a 

 small tree, and has leaves 

 very like those of the English 

 Hazel (Corylus). 



An upright growing deciduous 

 shrub 6 feet high, is particu- 

 larly valuable from the fact 

 that it flowers towards the 

 later part of August, when 



